With some creative planning and forethought, these times don’t need to be stressful, if we keep looking far enough down the road. Many of us with budget and time restraints may just need to design our stages in, well, phases.

With some creative planning and forethought, these times don’t need to be stressful, if we keep looking far enough down the road. Many of us with budget and time restraints may just need to design our stages in, well, phases.

The January-February 2018 issue of Worship Facilities Magazine offers articles about the many steps a church had to take in the aftermath of a fire, and another involving a church making the jump to 4K.

Latest Resource

The January-February 2018 issue of Worship Facilities Magazine offers articles about the many steps a church had to take in the aftermath of a fire, and another involving a church making the jump to 4K.

TD Staff · July 28, 2015

Customer
With more than 1,000 staff, volunteers, students, visitors and worshippers entering the campus throughout the week, Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale (CCFL) has made access control a priority by investing in the Viscount Freedom access control system to safeguard against unauthorized individuals, protect users and reduce the risk of theft, vandalism and other crime.

The Challenge
With an access control system already in place, CCFL understood the importance of monitoring and controlling access to its facilities, but also recognized the need to upgrade to a more advanced solution based on more modern technology. “Our previous access control system was old and clunky, and the accompanying management software was no longer supported, so we knew it was time for something new,” explained Benny Brown, network engineer, CCFL. After looking at several solutions, CCFL selected the Viscount Freedom access control platform because it is a feature-rich, server-based software application that communicates over IP. “The Freedom system stood out because it is a true IP-based system with a Web-based management interface and is built with the industry’s latest technologies in a compact, energy-efficient form factor.”

The Solution
CCFL replaced its existing access control system with Viscount Freedom, installing 100 readers and administering 1,270 regular cardholders. Readers also were installed in each elevator to restrict floor entry according to access authorization. CCFL purchased a Freedom RAID server to run the software and create a redundant system for high-priority areas using Freedom CUBE servers. The Freedom access control system was installed and configured to exact CCFL’s control specifications, enabling ease of administration and central management from the System Administrator’s office.

“The Freedom card readers were quickly installed and the software easily configured, enabling effective and powerful controlled access to our buildings depending on time of day and card user credentials,” explained Brown. “Viscount provided excellent training so we were able to hit the ground running — it was painless.” Installation was further simplified by the fact that the church has an advanced Local Area Network (LAN) and IP infrastructure in place. “From a technology standpoint, the Freedom system was a natural fit.”

A software-centric solution that takes physical control panels out of the equation, Freedom is also very easy to scale using the church’s existing network framework. “With a central server and a bridge that is literally just a card reader and controller, Freedom is very simple to scale without having to set up separate databases for each location,” stated Brown. “We plan to install Freedom Access Control in all of our buildings as soon as we can.”

The Results
With a simplified system architecture and Web-based user interface, Brown finds the Freedom system very easy to use, offering the tools and flexibility needed to efficiently manage schedules, users and system updates. “The graphical user interface and screens are well organized, logical and very easy to navigate, resulting in a minimal learning curve,” said Brown, who also likes the fact that any card reader can be turned into an IP device by connecting it to the bridge to grant or deny access from anywhere.

Latest Resource

The January-February 2018 issue of Worship Facilities Magazine offers articles about the many steps a church had to take in the aftermath of a fire, and another involving a church making the jump to 4K.

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